>> announcer: this is breaking news on nusews 4 at 11 sclok. >> washington nationals are champs. for the first time in 70 years, the baseball team in washington

has clinched the division title. >> we have team coverage of the excitement. erica gonzalez has reaction from fans who have waited a very long time for this. >> doreen, it has been a long time since we've seen something this fun from a sports team. the nationals played the phillies a lot over the last few years. the phillies clinched the national league east against the nationals. tonight, the nationals had a chance to return the favor thanks to a little help from the braves. their guys couldn't get anything going. kyle kendricks was dominant. but in pittsburgh, the pirates came through. a brave's lost also meant a national league east title. fans in d.c. found out immediately as the team went

back into the dug out. everybody started celebrating and then it was time for the champagne to flow. the nats, your 2012 national league east champions. >> you've been dreaming about this, i'm sure, for years. is it what you imagined it would be? >> we have a great group of guys. i love everyone on this team. for the first time, this is pretty unbelievable. it's speechless. >> reporter: that's bryce harper. he's only 19 years old. he celebrated not with champagne, not with beer, but with apple cider. 23 cases of champagne was used in the celebration. here's a t-shirt that everybody's wearing tonight here at the park and everybody is going to be looking for in the near future all over washington, d.c.

for more, ericgonzalez outside the park. >> all right. thanks a lot, dan. everybody is going crazy around here. take a look at this. this is the hottest ticket in town. the washington nationals have found their title tonight as champions of the n.l. east. the sound of victory for the nats. although they lost against the phillies, the braves' fall to the pirates still means a title for the young team. hats, shirt, swag is flying off the shelves. >> what else is money for? we've waited a long time for this. >> reporter: it's been years since d.c. has won a pennant. 1933, to be exact. this man has lived long enough to see the end of that era and the beginning of this one. >> i was in the third grade. i never thought i would ever see

championship and d.c. bass ball in the same sentence. >> and oh, how sweet it is with an n.l.est ea east championship with it. >> reporter: besides the ball, what does this mean on your birthday? >> it means everything. it's so cool. >> have you always been a nats fan? >> yeah, my brother has been a fan. his license plate is "natitude." >> so my sweet 16 birthday was nothing compared to this. absolutely amazing. take a look at the flip side of these tickets. world series? who knows. but first things first. tonight, we will take an n.l. east win and revel in it for the next couple of days. but we still have to continue to play the phillies in game 2 and game 3. >> now to a developing story in california.

at least 20 people have been injured after a big rig slammed into an amtrak train south of fresno. police say the truck driver failed to yield at a railroad crossing. the impact pushed two passenger cars on the train off the tracks. there were 169 passengers on board. the truck driver was not seriously hurt. and a dangerous situation for a woman on metro when her motorized skooter malfunctioned. now she's asking metro to install guardrails. karen jones says her scooter began running in circles. the scooter threw her on to the tracks. >> and i was hollering. i was like somebody help me, please. but could nobody catch the chair. and when the chair stopped, bam. it stthrew me over on the track. >> safety is their number one

priority, but they say guardrails would block access and could be a safety hazard by causing people to trip. >> broken seats, cancelled flights, emergency landings. things are not looking good for american airlines. shomari stone at national airport now where more on what's at stake for the nation's third largest carrier. >> reporter: it's not looking good for people with american airlines: pilots blame old planes for the problems. meanwhile, passengers aren't wanting to hear that. they say this is a problem and they're frustrated. american airlines pilots radioed in the emergency. the airlines says new seats have been installed and the

track may have been defective. >> it was very unorganized. >> today, the same issue on a new york to miami flight. more seats came loose and the plane had to go back to the airport. >> all of the sudden, we were on the plane and the guy told us to turn back because onof the rows was loose. >> this is more trouble as the plane went down from 82% to just 58% this september compared to 86% in southwest and 88% at delta. >> shakes my confidence as a passenger that i'm going to be able to get to my destination on time. >> american airlines officials say the slow down on union pilots are to blame. pie llots say american needs ne planes. >> if they don't fly, i don't have a status on another airline. >> now, american airlines officials say they are making a big investment in replacing

their old planes with what is promised to be new ones. meanwhile, today, a pilot insisted that american airlines planes are safe. >> tonight, a community is in mourning after a local professor was killed in a freak accident. a car jumped the curb andit him as he was walking his dog this morning. police say the driver had a medical emergency and lost control at the tweel. leverett was a history professor. neighbors who rushed over to help say he asked if his dog was okay in his final moments. the dog was fine. a neighbor is now taking care of the pet. american university is reminding students to stay vigilant after four women were groped near the campus. the latest incident happened last night on massachusetts avenue. police say the suspect is sneaking up on young women, inappropriately touching them and then running away.

they sent an e-mail to students reminding everyone to walk in groups in well-lit areas. >> the first debate between president obama and mitt romney begins in less than 48 hours now. the university of denver is setting the stage tonight. romney needs a good debate to narrow the gap in some battleground states. the president is hoping for a strong challenge. both of them will campaign in virginia after the debate. romney will be near charlottesville on thursday. the president will be in northern virginia on friday. there have been more than a few nasty attacks from supporters of both the president and mitt romney. but some neighbors near virginia are out raged at one anti-obama display. they say it crosses if line into racism. wendy rigger here now with more. >> this is freedom of speech in

craig county, virginia. a man named cur tisz caldwell has put up a statue of a monkey wearing a mask of the president's face. he told our sister station his only message is that another four years of the president would be bad for the country. >> not trying to say that obama is an ape or nothing. if i had a kangaroo, i would have put a kangaroo up there. i think we nd to get him out of office and that's primary thing i'm trying to say. get this man out of office. >> caldwell says he used a skeleton to mock the president in another display he had up four years ago, but the skeleton fell apart. he says he is fully aware of the anger he might insight and he said he doesn't care.

he's full aware of his rights to put up the sign and statue. >> tonight, the white house is transformed to support the fight against breast cancer. the pink lights will remain on throughout october. in this year's official pr proclamation as a key to early detection. >> coming up in our broadcast, a 10-year-old boy has stolen a van and then went on a wild ride. >> fighting foreclosures, hundreds pack a local church demanding help. >> and we'll tell you why drivers could soon face animal cruelty charges if they don't buckle up their dogs. >> we've had some scattered showers out there and these showers did not get in the way of our natitude,

a rough day captured on video in philadelphia shows a white van plowing into five parked cars over the weekend. police say a 10-year-old was behind the wheel. you koul see the boy trying to get away after the crash, but neighbors held onto him until police arrived. turns out the van had been

stolen and the boy has been charged. a witness says he overheard the boy tell police one of his parents made him do it. >> a teenager has been arrested after a violent robbery in riverdale, maryland. they asked him for a cigarette and then punched him in the face. the victim fell to the ground. he dropped his cell phone and wallet. tonight, the search continues for two other suspects. >> fighting foreclosure in heart-hit prince william county virginia. tonight, a church filled to capacity with families in desperate need of help. more than 700 people sharing stories of struggle and demanding help from banks. >> we are united as one voice around this vision of restoration. >> local clergy know this is ground zero for virginia's housing crisis. they see the anguish caused by

20,000 foreclosures and counting in prince william county with thousands of others barely hanging onto their homes. he saw his parents nearly lose the family home after his father lost his job. >> my father had to go through sleepless nights. my mother, the same. >> v.o.i.c.e. has been trying to hold banks' feet to the fire in their role demanding relief required under a $25 billion national mortgage settlement signed by five major banks. >> it's awful hard to turn down religious leaders when they ask us to answer this call. >> in a church packed to capacity, several hundred county residents heard personal stories of pain. >> as the housie ining market b to crash, my husband god laid off.

>> my monthly payment went from 2,900 to $1,223 per month. >> and promises of additional help from financial institutions like bank of america, committing tonight to a $5 million investment in affordable housing units for the county. >> we have made that $5 million commitment. we look forward to launching it as soon as we possibly can. >> reporter: jim rosenfield, news 4. >> for many people, pets are part of the family. but, now, there's a new push to make sure that pets are buckled up in a car, like everybody else. there's a lawmaker up in new jersey who wants to require dogs and cats to be in a harness or a cage that snaps into a seat elt so that they won't distract the driver. not having a bet buckled up could cost a thousand dollars in fines and a charge of animal cruelty. governor chris christy called

the legislation in his words the stupidest thing he's ever heard. he says he will not sign it. >> veronica is here with more about our weather. a little rain tonight that is going to continue? >> it is going to continue. to taking the pet out tomorrow morning, it's going to be a little wet. in fact, for some folks, it could be a lot wet. >> the pet will want to ride in the car. >> exactly. let's take a look at what's happeng right now. we have, of course, had some showers around the area this evening. and we're going to see a lot more right into tomorrow morning and throughout the day. got up to a high today of 72 degrees. that was a little below average. now, tomorrow, is going to be above average chlts as far as what's going on rite now, take a look. 65 degrees. we've got a light, northeasterly wind. and i expect to see some fog again. you know we had fog this morning. it's fog and rain for tomorrow morning. that's going to slow some of you

down. we get the double whammy. some showers right now. you can see those showers right around 66. prince william county over into fairfax county, all of that sliding off into the east. and then some more scattered showers back into the southwest. this system producing some very unsettled weather throughout kentucky and tennessee. they were under a tornado watch in kentucky and tennessee. i think the area of severe weather will be over ohio and north herb kentucky tomorrow. i can't see us seeing any severe thunderstorm warnings. we are going to get, though, some more reign showers. we're in the 50s right now to low 60s. the temperatures tomorrow are going to be getting on the warm side. we'll started to first at the bus stop, 55-59 degrees.

in fact, some moderate and heavy pockets of rain expected. here's what i'm looking at. anywhere that you see the yellow and orange, that's where that could be some heavy rain. so first thing tomorrow morning. we get it at 5:00. we get it at 6:00 a.m. i think most of that rain will be gone by the tail end of the morning rush. still, though, some showers throughout the area. maybe a few thunderstorms down to our south. but that is about it. and then as we get into wednesday, we'll see that front make its way out of here. still some clouds rotating through. it may be a little bit of rain. the bulk of the rain comes tomorrow and comes tomorrow early. 55-63 again. just a little bit of thunder expected. that rain tomorrow morning could be moderate at times. we'll see the rain continue up until about the evening hours tomorrow. 73-79 degrees. so we're warm tomorrow. in fact, right through friday. and then, the big cool down. next week, this time, your high temperature, only 64 degrees.

that is way cool. >> okay. thanks, veronica. >> we have sports coming up. that means more from that huge celebration down in nats park. >> the world's best dad has a >> the [ male announcer ]as a for the dreamers... and those well grounded. for what's around this corner... and the next. there's cash flow options from pnc. solutions to help businesses like yours accelerate receivables, manage payments, and help ensure access to credit.

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it is so good, is it not, to have a winner in our hometown? >> yeah! >> this is nearly off the hook. this is great. good for them. >> are they still celebrating at nats park? >> well, they're cleaning up here.

but i think in the dugout, they're still celebrating. i saw people singing madonna, break dancing in the locker room, 9-year-olds chugging apple cider, 86-year-olds swirling champagne in the air. it was an unbelievable scene as the nationals lose the game but still clinch the national league east. owner ted who is 86 had to take a brake. he said well, it happened a little quicker than we thought it would. just a couple of years ago, these guys lost a hundred games in bablgt years. let's show you how things went down tonight. what a night it was here at national's park. john lannan was on the mound. top two, darren rough tags to center field. bryce harper can't get there. smacking into the wall. the phillies go up 2-0. those are the only runs lannan

would give up. harper would be just fine. he's only 19 years old, man. harper on first. best chance for the nats right here. but adam laroche strikes out looking. guess what, the strike out wouldn't matter. minutes later, this is the scene in pittsburgh where the pirates beat the braves 2-1. and that gives the nationals the national league east crown. word spread quickly throughout the park. players were going nuts in the dugout and then the real party was getting started, despite the fact they lost 2-0. champagne all around. what a scene it was. everybody taking part. the players actually made a lap around national's park. there's 19-year-old bryce harper saying thank you to the fans. nobody happier than these guys right now. >> you can't even imagine, to be honest with you.

it's nothing like being soaked and freezing and just smelling like beer and champagne. there's no better feeling in the world. >> we're kpieted. we're division champs. we worked so hard for this. i know tomorrow is another game, but this is a moment in life that we're never going to forget. i'm too excited right now. i want to be around with the guys. this is best team, baby. >> we're always stralgt with the fans about how we're going to build this team. we're not going to rush it. we're going to do it the right way. i think we've accomplished that. >>. >> nationals owner going to be on live with us tomorrow afternoon talking about what it feels like to be in the playoffs as a division champion. a team that's hoping to win a division but has a tough road as the washington red skins. things are looking up after they bet the buccaneers down in tampa. part of the reason, robert griffin, iii, showed tremendous

poise. that's what mike shanahan was talking about today. >> things you have to practice during your otas, during your camps. and we kind of end practice on fridays with robert taking the team down in a two-minute drill. but to actually happen in a game, especially as young as he is, is really a credit to robert. robert does a great job of putting our offense in the best situation. he's got a good feel and plays with a lot of poise. >> robert running that two-minute drill at the end of the game. he was actually calling some of his own plays on that final drive. guys, good times on the d.c. sports scene right now. hopefully, they keep on rolling.

you might remember the world's best athletes who took all of those pictures with his daughter, al lis. now he's added a new one to the collection. father and daughter made an appearance on "the today show" last week. alice had no intense of sitting still. he included this picture and a thank you note to "the today show" staff. she doesn't look happy.

>> announcer: it's "the tonight show with jay leno," featuring rickey minor and "the tonight show" band. tonight, jay welcomes -- emmy award winner, bryan cranston. from the new movie "pitch